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Storytelling for start-ups: Alan Weinkrantz stresses the role of narrative at Entrepreneur Week

Weinkrantz Photo.JPG

Alan Weinkrantz, president of Alan Weinkrantz & Company, spoke at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week on Wednesday, March 26, about the role of narrative and storytelling in start-up ventures. Here, he consults a young entrepreneur at the Idea Village.
(Photo by Jed Lipinski, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Alan Weinkrantz, a media relations consultant for the tech industry, spoke about the importance of storytelling for start-ups at New Orleans
Entrepreneur Week on Wednesday (March 26). In concentrating on technology, Weinkrantz
says, start-ups often overlook the crucial role narrative plays in
supporting business objectives. He stopped by the Idea
Village to share some tips and observations for New Orleans entrepreneurs.

Sustain your story over time

Certain start-ups have a great story. Lauren Thom of Fleurty Girl, for example, was a single mom with three kids living in a shotgun when she started her company. Her story, when it came out, drove a lot of customers her way. But she continues to embody that scrappy image, and reminds people of her origins through her website, social media and speaking engagements. After the initial start-up phase, finding new ways to tell your story is what helps sustain a business.

Not everything needs to be scalable

"Is it scalable?" That's a common refrain among start-up entrepreneurs interested in growing their business. But not everything needs to be scalable. Often, focusing on whether something is scalable or not distracts from whether something will succeed locally, and potentially lead to something else down the line. Fleurty Girl is not exactly "scalable," in that it'd be hard to sell Saints-related paraphernalia in St. Louis or Des Moines. But it's succeeded in New Orleans, and the basic framework may very well work in other cities in Louisiana and elsewhere around the country.

Have a body of work

Everyone's LinkedIn profile looks pretty much the same.
Building a body of work becomes the next step in the food chain. And the better
quality content you have, the more likely you are to be sought out. I spend
most of my time doing traditional media relations, like branding initiatives
and helping people get into newspapers and magazines. But I spent around 20
percent of my time writing freelance stories for The Times of Israel and other
websites about the kinds of things I see and do. More often than not, my
clients find me through that body of work.

Embrace localism

New Orleans is fortunate to have a strong identity rooted in food, music and culture. Your start-up may have nothing to do with these things, but you can find ways of expressing elements of the city the same way a musician or a street artist might.

Listen

Too many start-ups, in the effort to get their brand out there, forget to listen. They promote but forget to share and comment, which can do just as much and often more than straightforward promotion. I spoke recently with the creator of ''I Heart Louisiana,'' which advocates for economically and environmentally sustainable parading. When stories come out about the garbage build-up after parades, she pays attention and comments about the importance of using sustainable materials. Its drives new business her way almost every time.